Mashpee Wampanoags roll the dice for Taunton casino

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has unveiled plans for a $500 million destination resort casino in Taunton.

Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell said the proposed destination resort is an enormous opportunity for Taunton that will result in 1,000 union jobs during construction of the facility. In addition, he said the casino will create more than 2,500 permanent jobs in the first phase of operation.

“The jobs and direct economic impact from this project will have a meaningful positive effect on thousands of local families,” said Cromwell in a statement. “The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the city of Taunton are working together with common goals: creating jobs and providing a better quality of life for our citizens.”

He said development of the destination resort casino on a 146-acre site would be built out over a five-year period in phases. Upon completion, the resort is projected to include a 150,000-square-foot casino, at least two restaurants, up to 15 retail shops, 900 hotel rooms and an indoor and outdoor waterpark.

Still, the tribe faces significant hurdles before construction can begin on a gambling facility. The Taunton land must be placed into federal trust by the Department of Interior. But a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as the Carcieri decision questioned Interior’s authority to take land into federal trust for tribes recognized after 1934. The Wampanoags were recognized in 2007. In addition, the tribe has until July 31 to enter into a compact, or a payment in lieu of taxes, with the Patrick administration.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick will not negotiate with the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah over a tribal casino, dealing a setback to that tribe’s pursuit of a gambling resort in Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reported last week.